El Chapo update: US requested Guzm谩n extradition just weeks before escape
Just weeks before the drug lord Joaqu铆n "El Chapo" Guzm谩n鈥檚 escape from Mexico's highest-security prison, US filed a request for his extradition.
The Office of Mexico's Attorney General confirmed the request Thursday and said that Attorney General Arely Gom茅z聽had informed a congressional committee of the extradition request filed on June 25.
The office said Ms. Gomez had issued instructions to review the request and submit it to courts for consideration.
Mr. Guzm谩n, who slipped out of an Altiplano prison through a tunnel on July 11, faces US charges of conspiracy to import and distribute cocaine. US authorities say his drug cartel, Sinaloa, has smuggled billions of dollars worth of drugs into the United States and is responsible for thousands of deaths through addiction and gang violence.
Former Mexican Attorney General Jes煤s Murillo previously told The Associated Press that Guzm谩n wouldn鈥檛 be handed over to the US before serving time for all his crimes in Mexico, which he said would last for 鈥渁bout 300 or 400 years.鈥�
A massive manhunt is underway to capture Guzm谩n, while at least 30 prison officials are being questioned over the breakout.
The attorney general鈥檚 office is investigating the escape and looking into any possible breach of prison protocols or intentional delay in issuing an alert after Guzm谩n鈥檚 escape.
Two lawmakers said Thursday that it took at least 18 minutes before anyone was alerted to the escape of the drug lord through a mile-long tunnel Saturday night.
In Mexico, the escape adds fuel to suspicions that law enforcement regularly cooperates with criminals, as the Monitor's Whitney Eulich previously reported.
鈥淢exican public opinion already perceives that there鈥檚 collusion between the armed forces and organized crime,鈥� Armand Peschard-Sverdrup, senior associate for the Americas program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies told the Monitor.聽鈥淭his [escape] only fuels that perception, whether it鈥檚 merited or not."
Guzm谩n previously slipped out of Mexican prison in 2001 in a laundry basket. He was not recaptured until February 2014. US agents鈥� documents obtained by the AP suggest he began planning his escape immediately after that arrest.
This report includes material from the Associated Press and Reuters.
